(Early-morning photo by Tony Welch)

West Seattle Bridge notes, three days shy of 7 months since the bridge was closed:

AWAITING THE COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS: This much-awaited document, prepared to play a key role in the repair-or-replace dedision, was supposed to be made public Monday; SDOT sent it to Community Task Force members late last night and is expected to release it more widely later today. We’ll publish a separate report once it’s out.

TASK FORCE MEETING TOMORROW: As previously reported here, the original plan for Mayor Jenny Durkan to announce her repair-or-replace decision to the CTF tomorrow is now off (no new date yet) – the task force will instead be discussing the CBA when they meet online at noon Wednesday (October 21st). They’re also going to hear more details on the “rapid replacement” proposal that suddenly emerged earlier this month. Here’s the draft agenda; here’s the link (UPDATED) for the YouTube stream of the meeting. If you have questions, the email address remains WestSeattleBridge@seattle.gov.

STABILIZATION WORK: SDOT’s weekly update says the release of the stuck bearing on Pier 18 could happen by the end of this week.

PORT COMMISSION CHAIR’S COMMENTS: During a media briefing this morning on monthly cargo volumes, Seattle Port Commission chair Peter Steinbrueck – who’s also one of the elected officials on the CTF – spoke briefly about the impending repair-or-replace decision. He said he feels there’s not enough information yet for the port to support one option or the other, so both pathways should continue to be studied. The port’s biggest stake in the game is low-bridge accessibility, with the low bridge under extra strain because of the high-bridge closure.